Spatio-temporal gait parameters obtained from foot-worn inertial sensors are reliable in healthy adults in single- and dual-task conditions

Abstract

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are increasingly popular and may be usable in clinical routine to assess gait. However, assessing their intra-session reliability is crucial and has not been tested with foot-worn sensors in healthy participants. The aim of this study was to assess the intra-session reliability of foot-worn IMUs for measuring gait parameters in healthy adults. Twenty healthy participants were enrolled in the study and performed the 10-m walk test in single- and dual-task ('carrying a full cup of water') conditions, three trials per condition. IMUs were used to assess spatiotemporal gait parameters, gait symmetry parameters (symmetry index (SI) and symmetry ratio (SR)), and dual task effects parameters. The relative and the absolute reliability were calculated for each gait parameter. Results showed that spatiotemporal gait parameters measured with foot-worn inertial sensors were reliable; symmetry gait parameters relative reliability was low, and SR showed better absolute reliability than SI; dual task effects were poorly reliable, and taking the mean of the second and the third trials was the most reliable. Foot-worn IMUs are reliable to assess spatiotemporal and symmetry ratio gait parameters but symmetry index and DTE gait parameters reliabilities were low and need to be interpreted with cautious by clinicians and researchers.

Comprehensive validation of a wearable foot sensor system for estimating spatiotemporal gait parameters by simultaneous three-dimensional optical motion analysis

“…Exclusion criteria included: recent major ligament injury, surgery, fracture or muscle injury in the lower limb, abnormal gait pattern, contraindication to exercise, or other health conditions that would adversely impact gait characteristics. Based on previous validation studies with Physilog® [ 22 , 23 , 25 ], the sample size required to calculate the ICC was determined to be 10, which is the number of people required to satisfy the conditions of one examiner, with a significance level of 5%, an ICC estimate of 0.8, and a confidence interval of 0.2. All the 10 subjects had the right leg as dominant (the preferred limb used to kick a ball).…”

“…Two studies conducted validation of the current system in stroke patients, however, their analysis was limited to 7 parameters [ 22 , 23 ]. Another study examined its reproducibility but not accuracy of 9 parameters in healthy subjects [ 25 ]. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to validate spatiotemporal gait parameters calculated with Physilog® by comparing them to the same parameters measured simultaneously by the OMCS in healthy individuals.…”

Association of gait with global cognitive function and cognitive domains detected by MoCA-J among community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study

“…The following 21 kinematic gait parameters from four aspects could be obtained through this device: general (cycle duration, cadence, stride time, stride velocity, and turning angle); temporal (stance, swing, loading, foot-flat, pushing, and double support); spatial (peak angle velocity, swing speed, strike angle, lift-off angle, swing width, and three-dimensional (3D) path length); and clearance (maximum heel clearance, maximum toe clearance 1, minimum toe clearance, and max toe clearance 2). The validity of this gait assessment has been published elsewhere [ 13 ]. As gait cycle duration is just a different format of cadence, the parameter of gait cycle duration was excluded before the analysis.…”

Amputee Fall Risk Classification Using Machine Learning and Smartphone Sensor Data from 2-Minute and 6-Minute Walk Tests

“…These differences were compared to the minimal detectable change (MDC) for each stride parameter. Since MDC was not available for lower limb amputee gait, stride parameter MDC for healthy older adults was used [22][23][24].…”